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5. Who Needs Good Online Services?
Remember the Nintendo GameCube Broadband Adapter? It was able to play online games with a grand total of one compatible title. Nintendo seemed to show from the very start that online gaming was not important to its business. Then, in late 2005, the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection was released alongside Mario Kart DS. While hopping on and playing strangers was quick and easy, the online service just lacked the meat of other offerings. Nintendo’s online offering had basically no infrastructure, and all settings, accounts, and friends were tied to individual games. The service also featured the largely reviled Friend Code system, which brought us back to a simpler time when you had to type in a phone number every time you made a phone call.
Nintendo also started an online marketplace with the Wii Shop. The Wii Shop was a perfectly serviceable place, but it still lacked the account system that every other online store has ever had. All of your purchases were tied to a single machine, and the only way to recover your software in case of a system malfunction was to send your device back to Nintendo– a tiresome and unneeded process. What’s more, this still seems to be the case with the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U eShop, so we are not in the clear yet.
Nintendo has always been one to move by the beat of its own drum, but having neglected and cumbersome online services is not innovation. Luckily, Nintendo is improving many aspects of its online offerings right now, but it’s too little too late for some. Nintendo Network accounts were introduced in 2012, a feature that Xbox Live had ten years previously. Way to stay above the curve guys.
Now, is it just me, or does there appear to be no game actually inserted into Reggie’s 3DS?! If so, why is he smiling?!
Kyle, from what dark corner of the internet did you manage to find the image of that prototype Play Station? Man, that is awesome!
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-XCVbCgnagw